Here's a phrase no one wants to hear...

"Mommy, I pooped in your room!"

Madaline said it with such excitement and sweetness that I almost didn't understand the actual words that just came out of her mouth.

She then proceeded to lead me to the "site" and pointed it out by shining a flashlight on the "deed" just in case I was having trouble seeing it.

Thanks, Maddie, you're a pal.

Could it be?

Jonathon thinks I use the phrase "I hate it" too liberally. He likes to save phrases like this for times that he truly means it. So after he pointed it out I finally heard my self saying it over and over again like, "Our carpet upstairs, I hate it." and "I really don't want to clean the bathroom, I hate it." or "LOST isn't returning until January, I hate it." I decided it was time to save "I hate it" only for times that I really and honestly mean it.

I hate swallowing cough medicine.

I Hate it.

I admit, I've always been a complete baby about taking any medicine. I was a teenager before I was able to swallow a pill. Don't judge. I've always contributed it to the fact that I have really large tonsils and they were keeping the pills from going down my throat. I'm sure that really isn't medically possible but it helps me sleep at night.

Anyways, swallowing cough syrup has always been a challenge. When Jonathon and I were first married he made me take some cough syrup. I wanted to refuse but I also wanted to look brave for him. He poured it in the little cup and handed it over. I brought it to my lips...but couldn't seem to make myself open my mouth. I was trying to think of anything and everything to get out of this seemingly unbearable task. After some coaching from my new hubby I was able to pour it in my mouth...almost...I chickened out about 20 times before I got it down. By this time Jonathon is thinking...who in the world is this wimp I just married?

Fast forward 6 years...yesterday morning, to be exact.

I'm standing in our kitchen with that stupid little cup of cough syrup holding it up to my lips with my eyes closed. I open my eyes just as I finally get the courage to open my mouth and swallowing it down .

But wait.

What do I see? Could it be?

As I opened my eyes I caught sight of one of the trees in the backyard. IT'S FULL OF FALL!! that was just the excuse I needed. I decided it was way more important for me to document this beautiful Fall tree than to take some icky old cough syrup.

Just the excuse I was looking for. So here it is...

P.S. After I exhausted all my excused I DID finally down the cough syrup. It wasn't good.

Maddie was invited to a Princess Party!!

She had so much fun! She got all dressed up and I did her hair "like Aurora's". (Yeah, I don't see the resemblance either but she does, that's all that matters.)

There were big princesses and little princesses. the big girls were so great and helped do pretty much everything for the little princesses. They served them food, played a princess game with them, read princess stories to them and even painted their nails. These big princesses were amazing. Oh yeah, we also had 2 princes, Prince Carter and Price Lyndon. (Although, I think secretly Lyndon wanted to be a princess. He is holding a sword in this picture so that should make Jonathon feel a little better.)

Here they are playing a princess game. Yep, Lyndon loves to be right in the middle of the action.

Cutting the princess cakes. It was all so fancy and elegant.






Maddie was patiently waiting for her cake. She was eyeing the piece she wanted.

So this wasn't Lyndon's seat...after each girl finished and left the table Lyndon swooped in and finished off each of their left over snacks and cake! By the time we left he had sufficiently cleaned each and every plate. Good job Lyndon, way to make me look like a mom who doesn't feed her kids! :)

HUGE Thank you to Tracy and Katie L. for the amazing party! We had so much fun.

weekend-o-fun

***WARNING***

You are about to read a post that has A LOT of pictures, I repeat A LOT of pictures... 41 to be exact. How can I help it, I love taking pictures AND this weekend was packed full of events and happenings...a dangerous combination.

Let's start with Thursday night...Can this kid get any cuter?

Friday, Halloween morning...I took the kids to the Round Rock Fall Festival. THE WHOLE CITY was there. It was huge!! Here's Lyndon (or should I say Mo Doodle) doing one of his favorite things while waiting to leave. He LOVES playing out on the back patio.

Anna, Lyndon and Maddie arriving at the Fall Festival. ...Maddie's excited as you can see.
The event was pretty fun (other than the 5000 people that were there).The kids ate cookies, went on a hay ride, played carnival games and listened to stories at the library booth.

Some friends at the festival.


Here she is...presenting...DeeDee Doodle!
My Mom made the Halloween costumes this year. There wasn't an actual pattern to follow so she just had to invent things as she went along. She did such a fantastic job. Thank you SO MUCH Grandma Perkes!!

Also starring...Mo Doodle!

For those of you who don't have kids under the age of about 8, DeeDee and Mo are from the popular Disney show called "The Doodle Bops". Maddie was intent of having Jonathon be Rooney Doodle. (The blue doodlebop.) But due to the spandex body suit worn by Rooney, he politely declined.

Lyndon WOULD NOT look up at me so I could get a good shot. I would be right in front of him and repeat "Lyndon, Lyndon, Lyndon..." He wouldn't even glance at me. Bueler?

He finally looked up for a split second and I was able to capture that adorable face...

Maddie is a jumper, to say the least. If she is up on anything, she prefers jumping to get down. Jonathon has already given her the "you don't want to jump off things that are too high because you'll wreck your knees in the years to come" talk. Jonthon got the talk from his Mom and chose not to listen so his knees are reaping the consequences now. So far she is also choosing not to listen...

If Maddie is doing it, so is Lyndon. So yes, he's a jumper too.

This was pretty funny...Maddie was so brave and ran up to the next house to go Trick-or-Treating. She even said, "Mom, I can do it by myself." So I hung back. Well, when she ran up to the door this pumpkin guy was there to greet her. She stared him down for a few minutes but then like the brave little dare devil that she is, she pulled the strength from inside and knocked on the door!

...only to find that nobody was home. :(

Trick-or-treating was a blast. Both Maddie and Lyndon really got into it. They would literally run from house to house. That is until Lyndon started out running both of us and exploring people's flower beds and open garages. He then enjoyed Trick-or-treating from the comfort of his stroller.

About half way through we get up to a door and out of no where Lyndon blurts out "Trick-or-Treat"! It just takes some free candy to get this kid to learn how to say anything!

Maddie would politely say, "Trick-or-Treat" followed by the appropriate "thank you". At this one house I could see Maddie eyeing the skittles in the candy bowl but the woman picked out a sucker instead. So Maddie, in her incredibly sweet high-pitched voice said, "Um, actually I think I need this one too" and reached in to take the skittles! We had a short lesson on the do's and don'ts of trick-or-treating after that!

Now on to Maddie's Birthday festivities...

She really wanted a princess cake this year so I thought, hummmm, okay I'll give it a try. It turned out to be really easy and cute. Read the next post to find out what Maddie said about the cake the first time she saw it!

We decided to have a small party with a few of Maddie's friends and their families. Here are the party bags. Maddie helped fill each bag.

The table all set up for the party. Yes, Maddie is wearing her DeeDee dress once again. Note that the cake is not on the table at this time.

Maddie and I had a long debate as to whether the princess cake was a toy or something to look at. She insisted that it be played with whereas I insisted that NO ONE touch it. I settled the feud and put it on top of the fridge. Incidentally she still tried climbing up there to play with it.
The party was all about the letter "P"...Party, Pizza, Pasta, Pop, Princesses, Presents, Phun (that's right, FUN with a PH)...

Here are some friends...Anna and Rylee.

Lyndon sitting at the big kids table.

Jonathon planned some fun games for the kids. They first had to pretend to be puppies and go around (on all fours) finding the bones that were scattered around the house. Jonathon is counting each persons bones to see who the winner is...

I had to throw in a picture of Izzy. This is Lyndon's bride-to-be. He's really infatuated with her!

Opening gifts...

Singing happy birthday...

Blowing out the candles...

No on to day 3 of the fun and festivities...Sunday, her actual birthday.

As soon as everyone was up she got to open the gifts from the Grandma's and Grandpa's.

Lyndon even received a gift.

A pink Sassy Dog! She was a bit disappointed that the dog wasn't real but this was definitely the next best thing!

I made gingerbread french toast for Breakfast. Maddie decided to dress up for the occasion and put on some of her new finder nails. Doesn't this look creepy?! Jonathon and I couldn't stop laughing. She loved them because they just added to her beauty.

Lyndon...ready for church.

Maddie ready for church with her new dress on! She looked adorable.

...Some more gifts. This is a webkins dragon. It even came in it's own pet carrier. Maddie loves it.

Lyndon's new puzzle and Maddies new Leap from game. While the kids took a nap Jonathon adn I played with her new game! It's really cool!

This is a beauty salon kit.

She's pretty excited about it.

She started using her hair tools immediately...on Jonathon.

and of course, painting his fingernails.

That night, I'm not sure who was more exited Lyndon, Maddie or Jonathon, but the 3 of them camped out in Maddie's bedroom. Yes, you are seeing right, those are satin pink sheets on Maddie's bed! Thanks Grandma!

All in all what a fun whirl wind of events this past weekend!! A BIG thanks goes out to both Grandma's and Grandpa's. The kids loved everything you sent. (So did I!!) We can't wait to see you all in the coming weeks!!